Gunmen kidnap German in Nigeria
April 16, 2018
Five armed men kidnapped a German national and killed a policeman in northern Nigeria, police said on Monday.
Gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a vehicle carrying workers to a construction site run by construction company Dantata & Sawoe in Kano city, abducting the German national working for the firm and killing a police escort, said police spokesman Magaji Musa Majia.
Read more: German aid worker kidnapped in Niger
"The attackers killed one police sergeant attached to the special protection unit on escort duty and abducted ... a German national working with the company," the spokesman said. "A manhunt for the abductors is ongoing."
Kidnapping for ransom is common in Nigeria. Armed criminal groups in the oil-producing south have regularly kidnapped oil workers, wealthy people and family members of government ministers to extract payments.
Read more: Nigeria: Kidnapped schoolgirls freed by Boko Haram
Kidnapping has increasingly spread to the north, where cattle rustlers have turned to the practice after a government crackdown on livestock theft.
Retired army major Hassan Abdul told DW that a proliferation of small arms combined with poverty and unemployment have contributed to a rise in kidnappings.
Northeastern Nigeria is also the scene of a long-running war between the military and Boko Haram militants, who have abducted more than 1,000 children since 2013, according to UNICEF.
Read more: Boko Haram has abducted over 1,000 kids since 2013: UN
cw/msh (AFP, dpa)